WWE Raw Recap: June 18, 2018

They might not be friends, but on Monday Night Raw, Finn Bálor and Men’s Money in the Bank contract winner Braun Strowman united.

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WWE Raw Recap: June 18, 2018

S26 episode 25 Aired on June 18, 2018

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They might not be friends, but on Monday Night Raw, Finn Bálor and Men’s Money in the Bank contract winner Braun Strowman united against the calculating tandem of Kevin Owens and “Constable” Baron Corbin. Could WWE’s first Universal Champion and “Mr. Monster in the Bank” coexist long enough to put KO and The Constable away?

Ronda Rousey didn’t win the Raw Women’s Championship last night because Alexa Bliss cashed in Money in the Bank and stole the title. So while it wasn't surprising that The Baddest Woman on the Planet stormed the ring in the middle of Little Miss Bliss’ coronation ceremony, her aggression ultimately got the better of her after the champion gloated over the one-two punch of stealing Rousey's spotlight and exploiting her unfamiliarity with WWE rules.

"Overhyped rookie" was the insult that finally drove Ronda to throw hands against anything that moved; not only did Bliss suffer a powerbomb through a table, Rousey also dropped Kurt Angle with a judo throw and belted him with the briefcase after the Raw General Manager tried to keep the peace. Given the outburst, Angle wasn't convinced Ronda "got it" when she insisted she knew how WWE works: Once he caught up with Rousey backstage, the GM handed Rousey a 30-day suspension from Raw as a result of her actions.

As for the championship, Nia Jax (absent from tonight's show thanks to a physical therapy session) has evoked her rematch clause for WWE Extreme Rules, which means Bliss has her hands full for the time being. But Rousey made her motives clear as she exited Raw: She’s coming for Bliss once her suspension is up, whether she has the title or not.

Give Seth Rollins credit for doing the honorable thing and reinstating his Intercontinental Title Open Challenge despite a hellacious defense against Elias at WWE Money in the Bank. But The Kingslayer’s heart got the better of him, and Dolph Ziggler took advantage of the champion’s wear and tear to snap Rollins’ reign and win The Architect’s coveted title.

That said, The Architect proved to be a tougher task than the former World Heavyweight Champion expected, even after suffering additional damage to his knee. Luckily for Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, who had been prowling at ringside, was there to make his presence known, leading to dueling roll-ups between champion and challenger. Rollins tried to put Ziggler away with a handful of tights the same way he had against Elias, but The Showoff was just a little bit sneakier, reversing The Kingslayer with a two-handed, tights-assisted pinfall of his own.

When Ziggler mocked the former champion and Rollins lashed out after the bell, McIntyre struck, helping Ziggler drop the deposed titleholder with the brutal Claymore-Zig Zag combo. Rollins would later declare his rematch for next week's show, but the more immediate reaction came in a post-match interview, where the new champion and his enforcer reiterated that they had no interest in T-shirt friendly catchphrases like "Burn it Down" or "It's My Yard" — all they were there to do was win. The Kingslayer has been slain. Long live the Intercontinental Champion.

Having sampled life as Braun Strowman’s enemy, Kevin Owens came to Raw with the sole objective of becoming his friend. It didn’t work, but he can take solace in the fact that he technically won the main event of the show, which teamed Strowman and Finn Bálor against Owens and Baron Corbin, competing for the first time after being named Constable of Raw. (Yes, he wore the vest in the ring — at least for a while).

Unsurprisingly, Owens & Corbin’s strategy revolved around keeping Strowman out of the match, though that proved difficult since Owens was practically bandaged from head to toe after Braun tossed him off a 15-foot ladder the previous night. Strowman, who is applying the “go where you want, when you want” aspect of WWE Money in the Bank to all facets of his performance, saved Finn from a 2-on-1 attack and threw him in position for his own tag before trucking Owens through the barricade.

But the collision took Braun out with Owens, and right as Bálor prepared to give These Feet to Corbin, the Constable took advantage of Mr. Monster in the Bank’s absence by stranding Finn atop the ropes and hitting him with the End of Days. In a show that Raw General Manager Kurt Angle struggled to get a handle on, Stephanie McMahon’s appointed representative did exactly what he was supposed to do: Take matters into his own hands.